Are you fearing the worst this winter? Live in a place where hurricanes and storms are a common occurrence? Want to protect your garden as best you can? Then follow these simple tips to make sure all your hard work nurturing your garden doesn’t go to waste.

Check weather warnings – be proactive in protecting your beloved garden, move things indoors if there is a high chance of a hurricane or a storm, then think about what potential hazards you can see in your garden and shelter or hide them. These steps taken in advance of a storm will help minimise the damage and decrease the effort you will have to go to in trying to repair your home.

Your unique plant containers that you thought so much about before planting – move the containers that not too heavy closer to your home or indoors. If the containers are too heavy to move or you think they will be able to withstand strong winds, move them closer together for added protection

Those lovely garden ornaments your daughter helped you to paint and decorate need to be sheltered or brought inside. These are most likely some of the lightest objects in your garden and therefore need to be moved because they are likely to be blown away if the winds reach high velocity

Unless you are planning on protecting your home from an invasion of vampires during a storm, make sure that all stakes are either removed from your garden or pushed deeper into the ground so they don’t become a hazard, damage your property or injure someone.

Those hanging baskets you’ve been trying to perfect for years? They’ve gone, smashed and have been ruined if you don’t prepare properly for this storm. Move them to a safer location where they will not be blown away by strong winds and heavy rain fall.

Make sure that all the valuable garden furniture you bought from garden buildings direct is hidden away in your shed or is sufficiently covered, to prevent any airborne garden missiles landing in your neighbours gardens

We all have that one neighbour who asks to borrow something and never gives it back don’t we? Whether it is a cup of sugar or a lawn mower, make sure you shelter all your garden tools or bring them inside the house, as you don’t want that nosey neighbour inheriting your brand new shovel after it’s been carried half a mile down the road and placed into his back garden by a hurricane or storm

If you have elderly neighbours or physically handicapped people living nearby, check on their gardens and make sure you inform and help them with preparing their garden for a storm.